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DevelopmentGame DevelopmentJRPG

What are the best tools for your epic 16-bit JRPG?

9

Options
Considered

21

User
Recs.

Jun 30, 2023

Last
Updated

8 Options Considered

Best tools for your epic 16-bit JRPG	Price	Platforms	Mobile targets
-- RPG Maker VX Ace	$64.99	Windows	-
-- MonoGame	Free	Windows, Linux, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch	Android, IOS, Windows phone
-- Pixel Studio - pixel art editor	Free+	Windows, Mobile	-
-- EasyRPG	Free	Windows, Linux, Mac	Android, iOS
-- Tiled	Free	Windows, Linux, Mac	-

RPG Maker VX Ace

Top Pro

Quick and easy to learn

Built for ease of use to get your game made quickly! See More

Top Con

Windows only development

With the ability to only work and deploy on Windows RPG Maker misses a major opportunity to create awesome RPG’s that anyone can play. See More

RickZeeland's Experience

Now on offer on Humble Bundle for only €9.74 https://www.humblebundle.com/store/rpg-maker-vx-ace See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows

Top Pro

Plenty of premade assets to get you started

Super high quality art assets get you making a game quickly without it looking terrible. See More

Top Con

Multi-user development can be a hassle

RPG Maker was not really intended for multi-user support. There are a few tactics but for those of you who are used to with multi-user development may get annoyed. See More

Top Pro

Steam support

Get a ton of great assets for the community by the community through Steam’s Workshop support. See More

Top Con

Isometric not out of the box

Want to make a tactics game? Well you’re going to have to do some extra work to get those awesome isometric tiles in your game. See More

Top Pro

Large community

Never a shortage of user tutorials, assets, or support. See More

Top Con

RPG Maker stigma

There is a major stigma with using RPG Maker since it does have such a low bar to entry. If you do use this engine just make sure your game is so awesome that no one will care what it was made in. See More

Top Pro

Simple scripting implementation

Quickly script simple events with a few clicks. This powerful part of the editor allows you to get through the tedious amount of content for quests and other in game sequences quickly. See More

Top Con

Only one tileset per map

While a tileset in RPG Maker can encompass many files it also can be a hassle if you want to use multiple tilesets on a map. You can switch tilesets through code for multi-world game though. See More

Top Pro

Creating maps is simple

Choose a tileset and get to mapping! Supported tiles will connect automatically to help you speed through the mapping process. Setting events on tiles is easy to do and populating your world with NPC’s and other items is easy to do. See More

Top Pro

Uses Ruby as a scripting language

Need more power for things like battle systems, plugins, or awesome effects? RPG Maker uses Ruby along with its own library to bring you the tools you need to stand out. See More

Top Pro

Powerful Database for everything you need

Everything you make is done through this powerful expansive database. You customize every character, weapon, enemy, and skill through this and so much more to make a designer's life easier. See More

Top Pro

Ton of customization options

Create things quickly with things like the character customizer or the experience curve editor. RPG Maker is made to let you change every single thing in your game swiftly and simply. See More

Top Pro

Relatively cheap

Although not free it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to get RPG Maker VX Ace. You can buy RPG Maker for $69.99 or get a free trial to see if it’s right for you. See More

MonoGame

Top Pro

Well-known and documented API

The framework implements the XNA 4 API, so games made in XNA can be ported to other platforms using this. This was the same API used by the Xbox Live Indie Games platform so there's lots of documentation online for it. See More

Top Con

Not for beginners

Aimed at experienced developers, specifically in C#. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Mobile targets:Android, IOS, Windows phone

Top Pro

Performance on desktop

The performance on desktop platforms matches that of C++, but you still get all the pleasant features that C# has to offer. See More

Top Con

Slow rate of updates

Version 3.9 is overdue by a year, and version 4.0 is set to be released in 2040. See More

Top Pro

Managed code

By leveraging C# and other .NET languages on Microsoft and Mono platforms you can write modern, fast, and reliable game code. See More

Top Con

Non-Windows tools are a bit funky

Monogame support for Xamarin Studio or Monodevelop is a bit shaky especially for library references. Only good non-Windows IDE compatible with MonoGame is Rider and that costs money & isn't open-source. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform

Support for iOS, Android, Mac OS X, Linux, Windows (both OpenGL and DirectX), Windows 8 Store, Windows Phone 8, PlayStation Mobile, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and the OUYA console with even more platforms on the way. See More

Top Pro

Open source

All the code is available to you ensuring you'll have the ability to make changes when you need to or even port to whole new platforms. See More

Tiled

Top Pro

Multi-platform

Not everyone uses the same operating system and why should they? Tiled supports Windows, Mac, and Linux so you can work in any environment you like. Also with daily builds you get to stay ahead of the curve! See More

Top Con

Must implement .tmx if your engine doesn’t support Tiled.

It’s not a huge deal but you do need to implement Tiled into your engine if you don’t have it. Don't be lazy just follow this guideline to get your game running. Must implement .tmx if your engine doesn’t support Tiled. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac

Top Pro

Free and open-source

Using the GPL license means you get to use this software free and are free to make changes to it as you see fit. See More

Top Pro

Unlimited layers

Sometimes you need 20 layers to make something epic. Tiled lets you create as many layers as you need. See More

Top Pro

Use shell commands

Setup shell commands within Tiled so you can setup workflows for each of your games. See More

Top Pro

Supports Orthographic and Isometric tiles

Whether you want a straight on look at your world or a slightly skewed one Tiled has you covered. See More

Top Pro

Terrains

Setup boarders with your tilesets so making tiles provide the correct connections automatically. This feature will speed up your level creation. See More

Top Pro

Auto-mapping

One of the coolest things is to create rules so you can automate the mapping process. Want to have certain tiles to always have a collider? Simply make a rule for it and it'll do it automatically. Speed up your mapping process with this feature. See More

Top Pro

Many engines already have support

A big list of engines already have support for Tiled provided by those in the community. See if the engine you use is already on the list. See More

Top Pro

Can create colliders and triggers within editor

Tiled makes it easy to setup triggers and colliders with its vector tools or you can set up a tile that’s invisible in your game. Change collider/trigger properties so you can access them within your game. See More

Top Pro

Tile size and image size do not have to match

Want to import a giant object but don’t want to split it up? Import it and place it the exact size you want it as one object. See More

Top Pro

Properties

Create properties for your map, layers, tilesets, tiles, and objects. Have the flexibility you need to create the best levels for your game. See More

Top Pro

Engine agnostic

Tiled provides an easy solution for tile maps for any engine even the custom engine you are now making. This makes Tiled a very versatile tool for 2D games. See More

Itch.io - 16-bit game assets

Tiny Tales: Mega Sprite Pack

RickZeeland's Experience

Now on offer on Humble Bundle (with 64 other items) for only €35.95 https://www.humblebundle.com/software/grand-game-dev-toolbox-software See More

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